La Quinta man being sued for using ‘Coachella Water Authority’ to market services
The city attorney for the city of Coachella filed a lawsuit Thursday against a La Quinta man who’s accused of using the Coachella Valley Authority name to market residential water testing services and products.
The suit was filed against Yaso Cupina.
City officials said Coachella Water Authority is a joint powers authority that operates the city of Coachella’s water supply.
“There is no connection between the Coachella Water Authority and Mr. Cupina or his business,” said Carlos Campos, Coachella’s city attorney, discussing the lawsuit filed this [Thursday] morning in Riverside County Superior Court in Palm Springs.
The suit alleges that Cupina’s use of the Coachella Water Authority name violates the Business and Professions Code by creating the false and misleading impression that Cupina’s business and the Coachella Water Authority are connected, according to the city’s news release.
The suit also alleges that Cupina, who also uses the name “Jay Cupina,” unlawfully obtained a fictitious business name registration with Riverside County for the name “Coachella Water Authority” in October and further alleges that Cupina is misleading consumers with his website domain name, www.coachellawaterauthority.com and misleading email addresses of info@cwa.com and coachellawaterauthority@gmail.com.
City Attorney Carlos Campos said the suit seeks an injunction preventing Cupina from using the Coachella Water Authority name or making false or misleading statements in connection with the sale, lease and rental of water treatment devices. The suit is also seeking the cancellation of Cupina’s fictitious business name filing with Riverside County and civil penalties of at least $300,000 which, if awarded, would be split with Riverside County and the City of Coachella and would be used for enforcement of consumer protection laws.
